Protecting apparatus for ships



J. A. V. RICORDI.

PROTECTING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILEDJUNEZT. 19m.

1,355,267. Patented Oct. 12,1920.

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Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

J. A. V. RICORDI.

PROTECTING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27,1913. 1,355,267.

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PROTECTING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE 27.1918.

1,355,267, Patented Oct. 12,1920.

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UNITED STATES JUAN ALBERTO VALDERRAMA RICORDT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROTECTING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct. 12 1920.

Application filed-June 27, 1818. Serial No. 242,181.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JUAN ALBERTO VAI'H DERRAHA Rroonnr, a citizen of the Republic of Peru, residing at New York city, county and State of New York, U. S. A., have inwill deflect a torpedo from its course without exploding the same and suficiently to prevent it from striking the ship.

Another object of my invention 1s the provision .of a protecting apparatus which will not retard the speed of the ship, but will, on the contrary, assist in the propulsion thereof.

I will describe one form of apparatus embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a view showing in side elevation a ship having applied thereto one form of apparatus embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view showing in top plan the apparatus shown inFig. 1, also applied to a ship; 35

)Fig; 3 is an enlarged detail view showing in transverse. section a portion of a ship with the apparatus shown in the preceding views in end elevation;

Fig.4 is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus shown in'the preceding views;

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing in end elevation one form of housing for the appara-' tus, embodying my invention;

Fig. 6 1s a fragmentary view showing in Fig. 11 is asectional View, taken on the line 11-11 of Fig. 7. I

Similar reference characters referto similar parts throughout the several views.

In carrying out my invention, I rovide a pair of endless belts arranged on opposite sides of a ship and which have portions thereof submerged to intercept and deflect,

and thus prevent a torpedo from striking the ship. .The portions of the belts which are submerged. are, arranged one behind the other and are continuously movable in a direction opposite to the direction in which C the ship is traveling, so that they assist in the propulsion of the ship when traveling faster than the ship. The inner belt is adapted to travel at a speed approximately equal to one half of the speed of the torpedo, while the outer belt travels at the same speed as a torpedo. The outer belt is dethrough but, by virtue of itsinovement, it

deflects the torpedo sufficiently so that itwill strike the innermost belt at the most advantageous angle to allow therinner belt to carry the torpedo rearwardly of the ship. The entire apparatus may be lifted from the water when not in use andhoused to prevent mutilation thereof. I

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, S designates a ship to the opposite sides of which are applied the torpedo protecting apparatus indicated generally at A. However, to simplify thedrawings, I have shown only one of such apparatus. As here shown, the apparatus A comprises a pair of endless belts or screens B and C which are trained around pulleys D, secured to the side of the ship S and pulleys D supported by beams 10 and 10, pivoted to the side of the ship for universal movement. With the apparatus A in the operative position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the pulleys D and D for each belt B and C are located at the corners of a rectangle and when power is applied .to the pulleys, the belts will be driven in the path,

of a rectangle. As shown in Fig. 2, the belt C is arranged within the belt B and is disposed in spaced parallel relation thereto throughout its entire length. As shown in Fig. 1, the pulleys. D are disposed in a plane above the water line of the ship S, while the pulleys D are disposed below the same. By virtue of this arrangement of pulleys, the inner stretches of the belts B and O PATENT OFFICE.

travel alongside of theship and out of the water while the lower stretches travel in the water and at a suitable distance from the side of the ship, which in practice is about feet, so that, in the event'a torpedo eX- plodes at the belts, the ship will not be '7 harmed.-

To permit the belts 'B and C to follow such a course during movement, each belt is composed of a pair of spaced endless cables 11- which are connected at regular spaced intervals by vertical links 12. As shown in Fig. 4, the links 1230f the belt Bare so 7 spacedthat a torpedo can pass through the belt, but the links 12 of belt: C are spaced apart a distance equal to only one-half of the distance between the links of belt IB, so that a torpedo cannot pass therethrough.

As shown in,Figs. 7 and 7 each link 12 comprises a pairof telescopic sections wand b, the upper section a receiving-the lower section b, and both sections being ofovate formation'to'present the least possible resistance whentraveling through the water and the greatest possible mechanical resistance to a torpedo! The ends of each link 12 are pivoted etc to a bracket d, which latter is secured to its respective cable '11 by means of fastening member 6. It will be obvious that with belts B and C constructed as described, each belt when let down into and maintain this contracted position while traveling from the rear pulleys D to the front pulleys, thus occupying a comparatively small space at the side of the vessel. Obviously, such acontraction of the belt 1s due to the telescopic links12, and it isto be understood that the links 12 are so-"con structed' that they'will freely move to e):-

tended position after having passed from the pulleys D at the forward end of the apparatus, so that the belt will assume its norinal' width when traveling through the 'water.

As shown in Figs. 8 and 8, the pulleys D are rotatablymounted on studs carried at the ends of the beams 10 and 10 and the periphery of each pulley is grooved and provided at intervals with notches to ac commodate the brackets d.

As shown in Fig. '3, the pulleys D are mounted on brackets K, secured to the sides of the ship S, and each set of pulleys'at the opposite endsof the apparatus is driven in synchronism by means of an electric motor M. The pulleys D for the belts B and C are provided with gears P and P respectively, and thegears for the lower pulleys are driven by means of an endless chain P? which extends through an opening in the side of the ship S and which is trained around a driving gear fixed to the shaft of. the'motor M. The upper gears are likewise driven by a chain P ,,but thischain is trained about a gear P shown in dash lines in Fig. 4, fixed to a pintle P .The pintle P is operatively connected to the shaft of the motor M by a connecting rod P", which is connectedat its opposite end for uni versalmovement to the pintle and shaft as shown. It is to be noted that the gear ratio between the gears P and P is such that the rate of speed at which the belt B The purpose of these relative speeds of the belts will be described hereinafter. the purpose of closingthe openingson the side of the ship S through which the chains P extend, I provide casings L, as shown in Fig. 3.

The motors'M are adapted to ea is driven is double the speed of the belt C.

For.

be controlled 7 byany suitable means from the bridge of the ship, so that the operator may control the speed of the belts B and C in accordance. with the speed of a torpedo.

For the purpose of lifting the lower stretches of the belts B and'C and the associated mechanism out of the water, I provide a plurality of cables 13, one for each pair of beams 10 and 10 These cables are actuated by motor-operated windlasses 14, and, as shown in Fig. 2, each cable 13 has its intermediate portion trained about its respective windlass. It then passes in op posite directions aroundpulleys 15 mounted. on the ship S, and the ends are securedto the adjacent beam 10, as shown in Figs. 8

and 8 Obviously, when the windlasses 14 are rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, the beams 10 and 10 and consequentlythe apparatus supported thereby, are moved u wardly and rearwardly to during a rough sea to avoid mutilation thereof, I provide a plurality of housings,

designated generally at H, such housings being arranged end to end so as to form a substantially continuous wall as shown in Fig. 6. As shown in Fig. 5, each housing comprises a bottom section 16 pivoted at 17 to the side of the ship S, and an outer section 18 pivoted to section 16 at 19. 7 When the housings H are in the folded or active position, as shown in Fig. 5, the sections 16 and 18 occupy horizontal and vertical positions respectively, and thus provide a threesided chamber one side being formed by the side of the ship, to thoroughly protect the apparatus from the action of the waves. When the housings are in the extended or collapsed position, the sections 16 and 18 lie contiguous to the sides of the ship S, as shown in Fig. 3.

To move each housing H from extended to folded position, I provide a cable 20, the outer end of which is secured to the rod21, fixed to the outer section 18. The cable 20 is then trained around a pulley 22 mounted on a standard 23 carried by the bottom section 16, and it then passes up to a suitable mechanism (not shown) for actuating the cable. By this arrangement, the housing can be easily moved from extended to folded position, and in practice it is preferable to provide means to actuate all of the housings simultaneously and to control such means from the bridge of the ship.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

With the apparatus in the operative position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lower stretches of the belts B and C are submerged, while the upper stretches thereof are disposed between the housings H and the side of the ship. Power is now applied to all the pulleys D through the motors M thus causing the belts B and C to travel in the direction of the arrow, as indicated in Fig. 2. As previously stated, the belt B travels at double the speed of the belt C, while the latter travels at a speed approximately equal to one half the speed of a torpedo. The average torpedo travels at a speed of from 30 to 35 miles per hour, so that the belt C will travel at a rate of from 15 to 18 miles per hour, while the belt B will travel at the rate of from 30 to 35 miles per hour. lVith the belts traveling at these relative speeds, let us suppose that a torpedo strikes the apparatus: it will engage the belt B first and, because of the distance between the links 12 of the belt B, the torpedo will pass through the belt B into engagement with the belt C. However, because of the rapid speed at which the belt B is moving, the link next in the rear of the torpedo is caused to engage the side of the torpedo, thus deflecting the same to the right as illustrated in Fig. 9 and, upon further continued movement of the belt, the torpedo is caused to assume the position shown in Fig. 10. With the torpedo thus deflected, it strikes the belt C, not at right angles, but at an acute angle, so that the belt 0, moving in the same general direction as the torpedo, carries the torpedo rearwardly and, in so doing, tends to cause the same to assume a position parallel to the belt, as indicated in dash lines in Fig. 10. Should the torpedo, however, owing to the influence of the gyroscope, attempt to resume its original direction, it will be prevented from so doing by reason of the fact' that the space betweenethe traveling belts B and C is too narrow, and therefore the torpedo will be carried by the belts clear of the ship before it can'resumeits original direction. Thus the torpedo is completely deflected out of thepath of the ship.

At the-rear end of the apparatus, suitable means (not shown), such as a net, may be provided for trapping the torpedo; or it niilay be left free to float to the rear of the s 1p. r

In the case of an extremely heavy'sea or when the ship is entering a port, the entire apparatus may be easily lifted to the side of the ship by first lowering all-of the lionsings H to the position shown in Fig. 3, then operating the windlasses to move the entire apparatus to the side of the ship, whereupon they are returned to their normal positions and the entire apparatus completely housed.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of apparatus embodying my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit of this invention and the spirit and sco e of the appended claims.

. iat I claim is:

1. A protector for ships comprising means for deflecting a torpedo from its course, and means for deflecting the torpedo further to cause the same to occupy a position away from the hull of the ship, both of said means being constantly movable at predetermined speeds in a direction opposite to the direction in which a ship is traveling.

2. A protector for ships comprising means for deflecting a torpedo from its course, and means for deflecting the torpedo further to cause the same to occupy a position away from the hull of the ship, both of said means being movable at different speeds relatively to each other and in the same direction.

3. A protector for ships comprising a pair of endless belts, said belts being spaced apart and having one stretch thereof submerged, and means for moving said belts at different predetermined speeds and in such direction that the submerged stretches move in the opposite direction to that in which the ship is traveling.

4. A protector for ships comprising a pair of endless belts, said belts being arranged one within the other, means for movably supporting said belts so that the outer stretch only of each belt is submerged, and

' means for rotating said belts "at differentpredeterminedspeeds. and in such direction thatfthe' submerged" stretches move in adirection opposite to the travelrof the ship.

5. A protector for ships, comprising a pair of endless helts-inade up of articuiated links, means tor driving said belts n 1 the path of arectangle, and meansfor causing said belts to travel at predetermined. speeds; l

6. A protector :tor shipscomprising means for deflecting a torpedo from its course,

means for deflecting the torpedo further 'from'its course, means forielevating both of said'means'to theside of a ship, and

' means for housing said deflecting means.

7 position.

7. In combination, a ship, means for de- 8. A protector. for ships comprising w an endless means movable at a rate of speed approximately equal to the speed of a torpedo, and a second endless 'means between the'first means and the ship and movable" I at one half the speed of the first means and 7 said wmechanisms having interstices therein tozper'mit torpedoes to enter, and the other mechanism serving to intercept the normal course of the torpedo and meansfor moving the mechanisms in the same direction at different relativespeeds. 10 In combination, a ship, a torpedo. guard comprising a pair of endless screens, means for 'oontinuouslyomoving said screens, collapsible housings carried by said ship, means for lifting said screens into close proximity to the side of the ship, and means for moving said housings intoposition to inclose said screens When inlifted position. 1

Inftestimony whereof I have signed my,

name to this specification.

" JUAN ALBERTOVALDERRAMA RIGORDI. 

